Training essential to combat service sector skill shortage

27 April 2017

Training essential to combat service sector skill shortage

Careerforce has joined At Your Service Aotearoa’s call to arms over a mounting skills shortage within the service sector workforce and urges greater focus on workplace training.

As the Industry Training Organisation for the health and wellbeing sectors, Careerforce is collaborating with service ITOs ServiceIQ, Skills Active Aotearoa and HITO under the At Your Service Aotearoa brand to raise the profile of the service sector workforce and highlight the importance of workplace training.

Chief executive Ray Lind says a productive and qualified service sector workforce is essential to the wellbeing of New Zealand.

“As New Zealand’s population grows and evolves, we need to ensure the skill level of our service sector workforce evolves with it,” Mr Lind says.

“By 2020 we will need around 200,000 extra workers across the service sector to meet growing demand, and the best way to meet those needs is to ensure our existing workforce can upskill and become more productive,” he says.

“That’s why industry training is such an important part of the solution, as an investment in workplace training encourages greater focus on New Zealand’s key asset – our workforce.”

Careerforce support employers across New Zealand’s health and wellbeing sectors to run workplace training programmes, allowing staff to achieve nationally recognised qualifications on and off? the job.

“For example, we know New Zealand has a rapidly aging population and we are also seeing increased demand for services in areas such as mental health and addiction support,” Mr Lind says.

“As demand for services increases, our health and wellbeing workforce must be sufficiently skilled to meet the needs of our communities. This means an investment in training is needed now to ensure the future wellbeing of New Zealand.”

ENDS

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